Now that the 2021 offseason has begun, following yet another year of disappointment, a fourth consecutive season with no postseason victories, it’s time to take stock of where the Pittsburgh Steelers stand. Specifically where Steelers players stand individually based on what we are seeing over the course of the offseason as it plays out. We will also be reviewing players based on their previous season and their prospects for the future.
A stock evaluation can take a couple of different approaches and I’ll try to make clear my reasonings. In some cases it will be based on more long-term trends. In other instances it will be a direct response to something that just happened. So we can see a player more than once over the course of the season as we move forward.
Player: DL Chris Wormley
Stock Value: Down
Reasoning: The Steelers gave up a fairly decent draft pick while also being willing to be on the hook for over $3 million for Chris Wormley when they acquired him via trade to fill out their defensive line depth at the start of last offseason. Given how the season unfolded, it’s hard to argue that they got strong return on investment, or that he did much to improve his stock as he heads into unrestricted free agency.
Certainly, to some degree, the manner in which the 2020 season played out for him was outside of Chris Wormley’s control. He did have an injury toward the middle of the season that sidelined him for three games, for example, and that just so happened to coincide with the juiciest part of the season where, due to injuries elsewhere along the defensive line, he would have gotten greater opportunities.
Instead, the Steelers had to call upon the likes of Isaiah Buggs, Carlos Davis, and Henry Mondeaux to play some significant snaps and fill in what they were missing while they had Wormley and a rotation of others unavailable.
In the end, he ultimately played just 100 defensive snaps for the team last season, which was the lowest of his career, and especially notable given that he tallied more than 400 snaps in each of his final two seasons with the Baltimore Ravens before being acquired by Pittsburgh.
With that being said, I don’t have much negative to say about his performance when he was on the field, and in fact, I think that by and large he was a positive contributor when given an opportunity to do so. He only finished the season with eight tackles, including one for a loss, and a sack, but that doesn’t tell the full story.
Given that he didn’t really do anything that would make him more attractive to teams, my hope is that the Steelers will be able to rather easily re-sign him on a very cheap short-term contract. Doing so would instantly become vital if they were unable to also retain Tyson Alualu.
